Lesson 1 – What Is a Knight and How Were They Expected to Behave?

Lesson 1 – What is a knight and how were they expected to behave?

What makes someone worthy of a knighthood?

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Activity 1 – Re-cap

What qualities would you expect a knight to have?

Activity 2

Read the information about knights given below and then answer the questions.

The Medieval era was a time of constant war and fighting. Lords and their armies fought one another within their own countries for land and power and they also fought for their king against other countries. The most important person on these battlefields was the knights in their metal armour.

Knights were warriors who fought on horseback for their king or their lord.Originally, knights could be men from lowly backgrounds, who were rewarded for their bravery or skill in battle. However, as time went on only men of noble birth were admitted to the knighthood and, even then, only after years of training in military service, serving others and Christian teachings. Figure 1 - a knight in metal armour on their horse who is First, a knight in training would wearing armour leave their family at the age of seven and become a Page. They would be taught to be polite, serve God, to ride and hunt, to understand the role of the knight and understand their code of chivalry. If, as a Page, they showed promise, then they would be selected to beccome a Squire at the Figure 3 - weapons a knight would have that a squire would look age of fourteen. A squire would then after be attached to a knight and would learn to look after their armour, weapons and horses. As a Squire, they would also continue Figure 2 - an example their training in military skills and appropriate social skills and rules. To show that he had of a small shield that a achieved a higher rank, a Squire would be allowed to carry a sword and shield. squire might carry

By the age of twenty one, the young man would be eligible for a knighthood. He would be expected to live his life according to the knights’ rules, which was known as the code of chivalry. This code of chivalry told knights how to behave and required them to be virtuous, noble, loyal to the Catholic church, dedicated to helping the weak as well as being brave and formidable in battle. It also required knights to be noble and act with honour and integrity, especially towards women.

When knights were not in battle, they took part in tournaments. Tournaments were competitions where knights practised their military skills against each other in events such as jousting. Jousting was an intense event which involved two Figure 4 - actors dressed as knights during a Figure 5 - a lance and shield jousting tournament knights riding on horseback towards each other at great speed while holding a lance (a long blunt spear) with the aim of knocking their opponent off their horse. Over time, these tournaments became more organised and they became very popular as people were excited to see these respected warriors in action and wanted to know who would be the hero of the day.

a) What was life like in Britain in the Medieval ages? b) Why did Lords fight each other? c) What did knights wear during battle? How do you think it felt to wear this? d) Why did knights fight on horseback? e) What were pages expected to do? f) At what age did someone become a squire? g) What were squires permitted to carry? h) What training were pages and squires given? i) What is the code of chivalry? j) What did the code of chivalry require knights to do? k) Why do you think we had a code of chivalry?

Activity 3

The code of chivalry was a code of conduct, it told knights how to behave and act in their everyday life. Even today, most jobs have a code of conduct that tells people how they are expected to behave and act.

Imagine Falinge Park High School has knights who must protect the school, pupils’ rights to learn and the right for the people in the school to feel safe. Create a set of rules that would make up the code of conduct for these knights.

You must consider:

- The behaviours you would expect them to demonstrate (show) - The way they would treat others - The personal qualities they would show - Their clothing

Activity 4 Based on your knowledge of how a typical knight should behave and what qualities they should have, pick someone you know who you think would be a good knight.

Use your knowledge of knights, and the person you have selected, to explain why that person would be a good knight. You must give three reasons.